I’m busy preparing for my son’s wedding tomorrow  so I asked my dear friend Edie Ramer to step in for m today.  I was so happy when she said, Yes!  So, heeeeerrrrzzzz, Edie!

Make Me Care

I recently read a book that had a few problems, but one thing kept me reading: the author made me care about her characters. They had heart and they had depth. I’ve read other books that were perfect in everything: dialog, characters, description, set-up, problem, solution. But when I read the books, the characters had no heart, no depth, no passion. I just couldn’t care about them.

Those books remind me of beautifully furnished, tasteful houses that leave me cold. And then there are other houses with bursts of color and comfortable chairs that I want to sink into… Those are the ones that make me want to sit and stay for a while.

In the books I read, I don’t want perfection, I want emotion, laughter, tears. I want a naked heart and a bleeding soul. I want it all.

You’ll find all of that in Karin’s books. She doesn’t go for the superficial, she goes straight for the jugular and the heart. Her characters have primal emotions, and that’s why readers love her books. Karin and I used to be critique partners, and she would constantly mark on my pages “What’s she/he feeling?” I could practically feel her seething frustration. But I still resisted her advice. I thought the reader should know what the character felt. That I shouldn’t have to tell them.

It took me a while, but I finally got it that of course I didn’t need to tell the reader the emotion. What I needed to do was show the emotion. Like this: Mary imagined him on his knees while she kicked his lying, cheating, too handsome face in. He wouldn’t look so pretty after that. Or this: She clenched her teeth and blinked hard, and tried to think of anything but his lies. Damn it, she refused to cry.

In reviews for my books, readers often remark on the range of emotions they felt while reading them. I owe those reviews to Karin andwww.margielawson.com .

You can find Edie at  www.edieramer.com her website, www.facebook.com/edieramer.authorFacebook and twitter.com/edieramer.  She’s very proud of being a co-editor of www.amzn.to/ouqCJW”>ENTANGLED, A PARANORMAL ANTHOLOGY, with all proceeds going to the www.bcrfcure.org/Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The anthology has 11 authors, and 3 are New York Times bestselling authors – including Allison Brennan!

In addition to her paranormal and sci fi romances, Edie is enjoying writing her new Miracle Interrupted, magical realism series. She’s giving away a digital copy of www.amzn.to/KBA4Wm”>STARDUST MIRACLE to a commenter.